Search on for 3 missing after racing dragon boat capsizes
Print Edition
THREE people are missing after a boat capsized during a dragon boat race yesterday afternoon in the southeastern province of Fujian.
The boat with 36 people capsized in the Minjiang River in Minhou County at about 4:30pm.
Thirty-three were rescued, while more than 160 people and eight ships are engaged in a search for the other three.
It is thought to be the only incident to mar nationwide celebrations of the Dragon Boat Festival. Dragon boat races were held across the country yesterday. On the Miluo River, dozens of dragon boats competed in a contest that has been held for 12 consecutive years.
The festival commemorates the death of Chinese poet and minister Qu Yuan during the Warring States period between 475 and 221 BC.
Qu drowned himself in the Miluo River in Hunan Province after he was banished and accused of treason for his well-intended advice to the king.
After learning of his death, locals raced boats to find his body in the river and dropped rice in the water in the hope that it would distract fish from eating his body. These traditions are observed to this day.
A statutory holiday in China, the festival takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrations usually include eating zongzi, a sticky rice treat with various fillings wrapped in bamboo leaves, drinking realgar wine and, of course, dragon boat racing.
During the festival, zongzi is the must-have food for families across China. Some choose to make them themselves while others buy them from supermarkets and restaurants.
At an annual market in the southwestern city of Chengdu, people could watch how zongzi are made and buy them hot off the steamer. The market opened roughly a month before the festival, with merchants lining a 600-meter street to make zongzi from scratch.
In Qu ’s hometown of Yichang in Hubei Province, poetry societies host contests and recitals to pay tribute to their local hero.
Qu’s loyalty to his state has also been tapped by modern-day poets to express patriotism and love for one’s hometown.
“There is a strong spiritual and cultural aspect in Dragon Boat Festival,” said Huang Boquan, a professor specializing in intangible cultural heritage study at China Three Gorges University. “The customs go beyond food and other material things to reflect the nation’s spiritual yearnings.”
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